The present invention relates generally to a pipe shut off tool for cutting off fluid flow through a pipe, and more particularly, to a hydraulically operated pipe shut off tool.
Prior art pipe shut off tools generally have two plates which may be tightened or compressed onto a pipe to prevent fluid flow through the pipe. One method of tightening or compressing the plates onto the pipe is via a set of bolts. For example, two plates may be adjacently aligned to each other and bolted together with four bolts, one bolt located at each of four corners of the plates. The pipe may be placed between the plates with two bolts on each side of the pipe. Thereafter, the bolts may be tightened so as to draw the two plates together onto the pipe until the pipe has been crimped to prevent fluid flow through the pipe. However, tightening the bolts is a time consuming process because all four bolts must be tightened simultaneously and tightening the bolts may be a slow process, especially when tightened via a hand held wrench—manual wrench.
Further, the process of tightening the bolts may be cumbersome because the pipe to be shut off (i.e., the subject pipe) may be confined in a compact space such that the tool operator cannot reach the bolts with the wrench to tighten the bolts. For example, a building may have a system of pipes which supply water to the building's restrooms, sinks, and water fountains. Some of the pipes may be piped between walls, within compact spaces, and adjacent other structures (e.g., cement or metal pillars). If one of these pipes leaks or bursts, then surrounding drywall or other structures may have to be removed such that maintenance personnel can shut off the water flowing through the pipe. However, certain structures within the building may not be removable such as load bearing columns, metal or cement structures. Accordingly, such structures may interfere with maintenance personnel's ability to position the pipe shut off tool over the broken pipe and tighten the bolts.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved pipe shut off tool.